House Bill 1145

AN ACT TO REQUIRE THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF STATE INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER LEARNING TO PREPARE AN ANNUAL REPORT ON THE ALLOCATION OF FUNDS TO THE VARIOUS STATE INSTITUTIONS PURSUANT TO THE AYERS SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT; TO PRESCRIBE THE MINIMUM CONTENTS OF THE REPORT; TO REQUIRE THE SUBMISSION OF THE REPORT TO THE CHAIRPERSONS OF CERTAIN LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEES; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. The Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning shall prepare a report on the allocation of funds to the various state institutions of higher learning pursuant to the settlement agreement in the case of Ayers v. Musgrove (Civil Action No. 4:75CV9-B-D, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi). The report must include, but not necessarily be limited to, the following data:

(a) For the then current fiscal year, the total funding appropriated to the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning for the benefit of the state institutions of higher learning from the Ayers Settlement Fund created under Section 37-101-27;

(b) For the then current fiscal year, the amount allocated to each individual state institution entitled to funding from the Ayers Settlement Fund or any other state fund that may be created in relation to the Ayers case;

(c) A history of the annual Ayers funding allocated to each state institution that has received monies as a result of any court order or agreement in the Ayers case, regardless of the name of the fund or trust in the State Treasury from which the monies originated, beginning with the year the institution first received such funding;

(d) For each year that an amount is reported for a state institution under paragraph (c) of this section, the amount appropriated by the Legislature for the general support of that institution; and

(e) For each state institution receiving monies as a direct result of the Ayers case, a history of the state funding of the institution for the ten (10) years immediately preceding the first year in which that institution received any funding due to the Ayers case.

The report required under this section must be prepared and submitted to the chairpersons of the Committees on Appropriations and Universities and Colleges of the House of Representatives and Senate before October 1 of each year.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2007.